Jay-Z and Eminem are going after movie studio The Weinstein Company, co-founded by disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein, for several unpaid dues from previous projects.
According to reports, the rappers have filed claims that the Hollywood giant still owes them over $800,000 for their work for the movie Southpaw and the documentary Time: The Kalief Browder Story.
The new lawsuits come as The Weinstein Company is facing bankruptcy after Weinstein's history of sexual harassment and assault. The movie company's attempts to bury the accusations came to light last year.
Jay-Z And Eminem Go After The Weinstein Company
Deadline reports that Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, alleges that The Weinstein Company owes him a total of $352,000 for the use of the songs "Phenomenal," "Phenomenal 2," and "Kings Never Die" from the boxing drama Southpaw, which starred Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams. He claims that only $48,000 has been paid so far since the movie came out in 2015.
"The Music Parties respectfully request that the Court order that the Debtors cannot transfer rights to the Music Party Repertoire unless the Debtors assume and assign the Agreement and pay the cure amounts, or the Successful Bidder includes the License Fees and Approved Expenses as Assumed Liabilities and pays them at closing," reads the lawsuit filed by Eminem's Shady Records and Interscope Records.
Meanwhile, Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, claims that the movie company owes him at least $480,00 for the docuseries Time: The Kalief Browder Story in 2017 and the upcoming Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story. The Tidal founder wanted the payment to handed to him in two installments of $240,000.
Celebrities Slam The Weinstein Company
The move comes after several other artists such as Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, George Clooney, Bill Murray, and Leonardo DiCaprio filed objections against the sale of The Weinstein Company.
Lawrence, who appeared in the movie Silver Linings Playbook, said that the movie studio owes her $102,623 for her work in the 2012 movie.
The Weinstein Company says it owes the award-winning actress $168,000, but Streep currently does not have an accurate accounting for her work in August: Osage County and The Giver as of press time.
The Weinstein Company also said that they owe Clooney about $250,000 for August: Osage County.
Tarantino, who made four movies under the Harvey Weinstein-owned studio in the past decade, detailed that he still has an outstanding balance of $300,000 for Grindhouse, $575,000 for Inglorious Basterds, $1.25 million for Django Unchained, and $2.5 million for Hateful Eight.
However, on Tuesday, May 8, the court ruled in favor of The Weinstein Company's sale of assets to private equity firm Lantern Capital Partners for $310 million.
